Magna’s challenge is the fresh instance of a big provider making an investment to change its production footprint with an perceptible towards profitable EV-related industry because the business’s electrification push continues.
That is the 3rd vital funding Magna has made in its battery enclosure production footprint within the year age. In that hour, the corporate additionally dedicated about $700 million to develop or make bigger battery enclosure vegetation in Michigan and Ontario, the terminating of which gives Ford for F-150 Lightning manufacturing.
Battery enclosures are an important “target area” for Magna because it positions itself for EV manufacturing within the coming years, mentioned Eric Wilds, the provider’s gross sales and advertising officer. Enclosures, which area high-voltage batteries and alternative EV parts, are a “natural progression” for Magna, which has in depth enjoy development frames and underbody parts for gasoline-powered automobiles, he mentioned.
“They’re very complex, especially when considering they need to be leak-proof,” he mentioned in an interview with Automobile Information. “It’s not as simple as building a big box and welding it together. The complexity is something that makes it a great target area for us and makes it somewhat difficult to the point where not just anyone else can do it.”
Magna’s alternative BlueOval Town plant might be 140,000 sq. toes in dimension and manufacture polyurethane foam and form whole seats for just-in-time supply. That plant will make use of about 300 community, the corporate mentioned.
For the 3rd a part of the challenge, the Aurora, Ontario, provider intends to develop a 400,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., about 80 miles south of Nashville and 140 miles east of BlueOval Town. The manufacturing facility will manufacture automobile frames and is anticipated to make use of about 250 community.
